A costly difference in hiring for Sandy cleanup

State-contracted firm charged highest price

8:56 PM,
Feb. 16, 2013

Colts Neck Mayor Jarrett Engel speaks as area mayors and officials meet in November at Tinton Falls borough hall to discuss JCP&L's response to Hurricane Sandy. Colts Neck officials chose Bergeron as its primary contractor instead for AshBritt, and the bill for 64,000 cubic yards of debris removal was $754,000.

Written by

Bob Jordan
| @BobJordanAPP

Towns that employed debris-removal contractors other than a state-hired Florida firm achieved savings that, when totaled, amount to millions of dollars of taxpayer money.

Florida-based AshBritt Inc. charged towns $21.25 per cubic yard to gather roadside debris and bring it to a collection site within 15 miles. That was nearly double the $11.70 asking price of another Florida company, Bergeron, and other firms, records show.

Colts Neck officials chose Bergeron as its primary contractor and the bill for 64,000 cubic yards of debris removal was $754,000. AshBritt's rate would have ...